I get a wood curl on the exit side of my blade. Its stringee. I was wondering what is causeing this. I am useing 10 degree blades and around 21 set, depending on the wood that i cut. I'm cutting all differnt woods. Oak, cedar, pine. I take my blades to have them sharpend. My guy does a great job. Any suggestions?
I think it is just the nature of the beast. The blade is flying out of the cant at 60 miles an hour with the points of teeth digging into the wood. There isn't much resistance by the wood on the extreme exodus and the wood gives up when there is not enough to hold it together. I guess that you could control that by decreasing the force, which would mean a real sharp tooth and less aggressive configuration and speed, but there is a point where it is no longer economically feasible to drive error free. :)
Yes, I just got used to seeing it. Sometimes the wood will splinter and sometimes it won't. I saw it mostly on softwoods, like pine. I seldom saw it on oak. I guess that the solution is to cut the board wider and thicker to account for further machining, if it is a problem.
Yep, nature of the beast. Pine especially. I find that its not so bad with new or well sharpened blades. I also watch the curls kinda like a guage for blade change. Of course there are other indicators rearing their heads too by the time I give in. :-\
Yep just the nature of the beast and a lot of things affect it. type of wood. temp of wood and air, wood moisture. cut speed, blade condition, etc etc etc.
they can help you to get a better cut if you learn to recognize the different causes and adjust you mill practice accordingly. with in reason of course. i find cut speed and blade condition to have the most significant effect and the type and moisture of the wood will change how the curls form quite a bit. learn to use em as a guide to performance and condition of your blade. i grab a hand full of saw dust about every 4th or 5th cut and rub it between my fingers. Gives me a pretty good idea of tooth wear along with the sound of the blade in the cut. Find the curls tend to get smaller and more numerous as the blade gets dull.
I saw a lot of white pine and the curls are always there, just a few with a sharp blade but become more numerous as the blade dulls. If I'm going to sticker the boards for my own use I usually cut the worst of the curls off as I sticker because I think they interfer with airflow in the stack.
Today I sawed a soft maple that had been down 2 years and dry until about 8" in. On one of the 2" x 12" cuts I had a continous curl for the length of the log ( 6 ft. ). I have never seen a continous curl before and noticed some wave in the cut. Think I was probably going too fast because I slowed down on the next cuts and the wave went away and the curls were normal. Always
something new ;D
I had the same thing happen with a poplar that I sawed. Lots of curl and it got worse as the blade dulled. One thing that you could try if you wanted to eliminate the curl would be to put a sacrificial board on the exit side of the cant and make the cut. This would give the exit side some support, and if you were cutting 1" boards you could use the sacrificial pieces as stickers. You would end up with fuzzy stickers, but you would have clean cut boards. Just a thought
Hey! That's a pretty good idea. :)
Tom, which part is the good idea? Getting the boards out clean or having fuzzy stickers? Oops, that almost sounds like I shouldn't have said it. :D
Lj
:D Getting the boards out clean and ending up with stickers to boot. I don't know about the fuzzy stuff. I think I'd have to dress the sticker and get rid of the fuzzies. Maybe I didn't say that right. Maybe you undress the stickers to get rid of the fuzzies. Now I'm getting confused. :D
So, this is what happens at night with the shades pulled down. All this deep thinking. :D :D
An old machinist told me once that when you see the metal being cut by the tool in his metal lath coming off in long curly strands that the cutting tool was cutting at the correct speed.
Are you saying that when this happens in wood, you're cutting at the wrong speed? or just that the blade is dull?
I do see this from time to time, but I always figured it was ok based on the old machinist saying.
Jim Rogers
When you're sawing Pine and some hardwoods, you'll get the curls on the sawdust side of the cant.
It doesn't matter if the blade is new or old, sharp or getting dull.
It's normal.
Thank you Chuck. I thought perhaps after nearly 20 years of sawing, I had missed some "clue" about what my saw was doing by reading the curl. :D
I get curl whether the blade is sharp or dulling, advancing fast or slow or if the wood is wet or dry.
Nature of the beast.
As mentioned, it is more dominant in pine, yet can be present otherwise, depending on circumstance. A significant amount comes off with handling of the boards. If I'm going to utilize them 'rough cut', a wire brush generally takes care of the rest.
Brad, you must become "one" with the curl. smiley_jester
A lot of it depends on how the grain is running in the log also.
I've never had them affect the ability to dress a board down to the desired size.